Campus Kitchen at Northwestern University

Hard Time, But Big Hearts!

With stories of poverty and economic downturns all over the media, it is easy to wonder, who does poverty affect?  According to Feed America, 36.2 million people in the U.S. were food insecure in 2007.  But since then, things have changed.  The Heartland Alliance reported that 1,110,002 people in Cook County visited a food pantry during the fourth quarter of 2008.  This is a 32.6% increase from the fourth quarter of 2007.

But there is a bright side! Kim Kilbride of The South Bend Tribune reports that though people are less able to donate money or food to non-profit organizations these days, they are donating their time.  Those who have been laid-off are spending their time volunteering while job-hunting.

CKNU is no exception to this increase in volunteering!  In April alone CKNU welcomed 39 new volunteers, who, together with our exisiting volunteers, completed 302 volunteer hours. All this hard work produced 3,126 meals! We thank all of our dedicated volunteers at CKNU for your help in providing relief to those in need of support in our area.